Prospect Talent Score

Probability of Success

History

2007-08: Matt Bailey played for the Neepawa Natives in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League and skated for Canada Western in the 2008 U17 World Hockey Challenge. He scored 13 goals with 15 assists and 63 penalty minutes in 56 MJHL games. Bailey played four games and had no points and 2 penalty minutes at the WHC as Canada Western captured a bronze medal.

2008-09: Bailey skated for the Tri-City Storm in his first USHL season. He scored 10 goals with 14 assists and was -31 with 49 penalty minutes in 58 games. The Storm had the league’s worst record. Bailey committed to playing college hockey at Alaska-Anchorage in 2010-11.

2009-10: Bailey went from Tri-City to Sioux Falls in his second USHL season. He was the Stampede’s third-leading scorer, finishing with 14 goals and 33 assists, and was +11 with 69 penalty minutes in 59 regular season games. Sioux Falls finished third in the Western Division before being swept by second-place Fargo in a three-game playoff series. Bailley had 2 goals and was +2 with 2 penalty minutes in three playoff games.

2010-11: Bailey skated in 30 of 37 games for the University of Alaska-Anchorage in his freshman season. He was the Seawolves fourth-leading scorer with 10 goals and 10 assists and was an even plus-minus with 23 penalty minutes. Alaska-Anchorage finished eighth in the WCHA; sweeping Minnesota in a first round series before falling to Colorado College in the Final Five.

2011-12: Bailey led Alaska-Anchorage with 10 goals in a disappointing season as the Seawolves slipped to last place in the WCHA; winning nine games all season. The sophomore had 7 assists and was -11 with 30 penalty minutes in 34 games.

2012-13: Bailey scored 7 goals with 12 assists in 36 games in his junior season at Alaska-Anchorage; leading the Seawolves with 65 penalty minutes and finishing -19. After defeating St. Cloud State on Dec. 1st to raise its record to 3-5-4, Alaska-Anchorage won just one more game, on February 8th against Michigan Tech, and finished last in the WCHA.

2013-14: Bailey was the leading scorer for Alaska-Anchorage as the Seawolves under first-year coach Matt Thomas finished the regular season with a winning record for the first time since 1992-93. Bailey scored 20 goals with 18 assists and was +15 with 49 penalty minutes in 38 games. After finishing sixth in the re-aligned 10-team WCHA, the Seawolves overcame an overtime loss in Game 1 of their series against Alaska-Fairbanks to take their three-game series and then took league champion Ferris State to overtime in the WCHA semifinals before falling 5-4. Bailey signed a two-year, entry-level contract with Anaheim as a free agent on March 26th, 2014.

2014-15: Bailey skated in 56 games for Anaheim AHL affiliate Norfolk in his first pro season. He scored 6 goals with 4 assists and was -9 with 31 penalty minutes. The Admirals missed the playoffs, finishing last in the East Division.

Talent Analysis

Bailey, a point-per-game scorer in his final season of college hockey, has been mostly a sandpaper-type, physical lower line forward in his first two pro seasons. He has the size and aggressiveness to fill that role but has shown little in terms of scoring ability to this point.

Future

Bailey is in the second year of his original entry-level contract with the Ducks in 2015-16; skating for new AHL affiliate San Diego. As he did with the Norfolk Admirals in his rookie season, Bailey has seen limited ice time with the Gulls and has played mostly an energy, contact game. That figures to be his role at the NHL level but at this point he could end up being a career minor leaguer.

Photo: Despite his point totals not matching his pace from last season, Nic Kerdiles is one of several AHL players who should be ready to be a difference-maker for the Ducks next season (courtesy of San Diego Gulls Hockey Club)

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While the NHL season has been altogether disappointing for the Anaheim Ducks, fans should take solace in the fact that the AHL team is not having a particularly bad season. They started quite hot, cooled considerably in November but started to come back around in December. With the current way the AHL is structured, with the Pacific playing fewer games, it is hard to get a handle on just how they compare with the rest of the league as of right now. Personnel moves in the organization will also affect the team as the season enters its critical second-half.

Photo: Ferris State University goaltender C.J. Motte was a workhorse for his team in the 2013-14 season, and will likely be that again as the Bulldogs seek to defend their WCHA regular season title (courtesy of Ferris State Athletic Department)

Five of the six NCAA conferences feature a number of NHL prospects this season. Of those five, the WCHA has the fewest with 12 representing five member teams. Minnesota State-Mankato leads all WCHA teams with five prospects followed by Michigan Tech with four. Read more»

Photo: While defenseman Graeme Strukoff and his University of Alabama-Huntsville teammates may not have a lot to celebrate in 2013-14, they enter a season as a member of an NCAA conference for the first time since 2009-10 (courtesy of Karl Gehring/The Denver Post via Getty Images)

The revamped WCHA is comprised of ten teams that made up parts of last season’s WCHA, the now-defunct CCHA, and one of the two now former independent programs. The parity and the recent successes by some of the member schools make the WCHA very competitive and well worth watching in 2013-14.

Photo: Washington Capitals prospect Riley Barber had a successful start to his college career, posting eight points during the month of October for Miami University (courtesy of Tim G. Zechar / Icon SMI)

The first edition of the 2012-13 College Prospects Notebook takes a look some notable (and not so notable) prospect performances from around college hockey. Unless otherwise indicated, all stats are current as of Oct. 31.

Photo: University of Minnesota forwards Nick Bjugstad and Erik Haula hope to be celebrating a national championship after losing in the semi-finals of the NCAA Frozen Four back in April (courtesy of Brace Hemmelgarn/Icon SMI)

This is the final season of the WCHA as we know it. The conference will undergo a sweeping change next season, with eight members exiting the WCHA. Minnesota and Wisconsin will be joining the newly formed Big Ten (Hockey) conference. Colorado College, Denver, Minnesota-Duluth, Nebraska-Omaha, North Dakota, and St. Cloud State will comprise much of the new National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC). The remaining teams will be members of the revamped WCHA.